Scott Johnson refuses to get carried away after a mixed display but Scotland
will aim to get the better of an under-par French side in two weeks' time

Rome is not exactly short of symbols of triumph, but Scotland coach Scott Johnson decided against taking his cue from the local statuary when he reflected on this result on Saturday evening.

Yes, there was much to be satisfied with in a Scottish performance that displayed all the spirit and pace they had lacked in their feeble capitulation of England two weeks earlier, but it was still a desperately close-run thing, seized at the death by Duncan Weir’s imperious dropped goal.

Johnson’s wisecracks and bombast in the wake of the Calcutta Cup defeat had brought scathing criticism of his style from the Scottish rugby public, but he has clearly decided that his image needs a makeover.

Certainly, there was nothing valedictory in his bearing or his words as he spoke about a match that brought the Scots their first away win in the Six Nations since they beat Ireland at Croke Park four years ago.

“I’m not going to get carried away,” said Johnson. “I wouldn’t get carried away by a loss either. There were good things in our game and I was really happy for the boys that good fortune came their way. I was glad for them. But we’ll work on the things we need to work on.”

In truth, there are not too many of those. Scotland tidied up the mess that was their line-out so well that they finished with a 100 per cent success rate on their own ball and even managed to nick a couple of Italian throws as well.

They were abrasive in contact and they had by far the stronger scrum n the second half, after Geoff Cross had replaced the struggling Moray Low at tighthead.

The nearest Johnson got to cracking a joke was his sardonic remark that Scotland’s dominant scrum had not been rewarded with the succession of penalties that the Italian set-piece had been given earlier in the game.

Cross seems certain to take the starting berth against France in two weeks’ time. The other obvious change would see Chris Cusiter take over from Greig Laidlaw at scrum-half, as Scotland were energised by his arrival in the 64th minute. Cusiter’s service was crisp and swift, qualities that were lacking in Laidlaw’s performance.

Weir is a good enough place kicker for Johnson to feel relaxed about losing Laidlaw’s talent in that department. However, having dropped one captain, Kelly Brown, in the course of this campaign, he may not feel so comfortable about removing another.

Then again, Johnson is rarely wary of making big calls. He made that clear when he left Richie Gray, a player who would walk into any other Six Nations side, out of his squad for the England match. Gray responded to the slight with a magnificent display on his return.

Johnson was the first to acknowledge it. “I thought he did really well,” said the coach. “You always see the glory work with Richie, with his big blond hair, but it was the other work I was more pleased with today.

“The dark arts, he was good at the dark arts. He deserves congratulations for that. There’s a balance for a player like him.”

It was also a day when the centre pairing of Matt Scott and Alex Dunbar lived up the expectations that have been created, but left frustratingly unfulfilled, over the past year. Dunbar seized the headlines with his two second-half tries - the Scots had not scored one in their four previous games - but the bustle and strength of Scott was just as important.

Johnson said: “We have a centre combination that will be the equal of any team in the north in a couple of years. This combination is really special, trust me. I’ve worked with some good centre partnerships and this is emerging as a really special one. Make no mistake about that.”

It was probably inevitable that Tommaso Allan would make a significant contribution. The fly-half, who opted for Italy ahead of Scotland last year, scored all the Italian points in the first half, and a few chickens were probably preparing to come home to roost around those Scottish officials who had allowed him to slip out of their grasp.

However, Allan was subdued in the second period, lacking authority in his all-round game. As Italy’s error count mounted in the second half, quite a few of the mistakes were of Allan’s making. It was rather fitting that it fell to Weir, his opposite number, to make the decisive contribution at the end.

It will only be in the wake of the France match that the restorative value of this win might be clear. only once since the turn of the century have Scotland won back-to-back Six Nations games, but France’s misfiring display against Wales last Friday must give them hope of a repeat.

“France will be pretty upset I imagine,” said Gray, who moved to Castres last year. “From all the talk, they were upset with how they didn’t get out the blocks against Wales and I’m sure they will be fired up when they come to Murrayfield. It is going to be a tough match but we are prepared for that.”